Karl Lagerfeld presents ‘eco-luxe’ Chanel couture collection for spring/summer

The German designer focused on a few key silhouettes and a gentle palette of cream, ivory, bamboo, hemp and straw in a show presented in a Japanese-style house and garden of recyclable elements

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German designer Karl Lagerfeld appears at the end his haute couture spring/summer 2016 collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais in Paris, presented in a Japanese-style wooden building and garden. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:30pm, 27 Jan 2016Updated: 6:02pm, 27 Jan 2016

Amid the heightened security around Paris in the wake of November’s terror attacks, the zen-like setting Karl Lagerfeld created for his latest show of Chanel haute couture was welcome. A Japanese-style wooden building, from which models emerged to wander serenely through a grassy garden (all elements, like the wooden seating, recyclable) provided a calming atmosphere for what is best described as an “eco-luxe” collection.

Cork-soled shoes were the order of the day for many of the models presenting Chanel’s 2016 spring/summer haute couture collection. Photo: AFP

Model Kendall Jenner presents a Karl Lagerfeld creation for Chanel at Paris’ Grand Palais. Photo: Reuters

He focused on a few key silhouettes: rounded jackets and sleeves over a pencil slim skirt with a tulle kick-pleat and slender 1920s-style tiered dresses, and a gentle palette of cream, ivory, bamboo, hemp and straw. Then he let loose the superb craftsmanship of Chanel’s Metiers d’Arts studios: jackets and dresses in teased chiffons and plaited wools with silk and paillette fringes, pleating, embroideries and adorned with sweet jewelled flowers and insect brooches. These were worn with cork-soled shoes and, a nod to the modern world, gold leather and pearl belts with Smartphone pouches.

A model presents a Chanel look at the Paris show. Photo: AFP

Many of the outfits featured smartphone pouches. Photo: AFP

There was a lightness of spirit in the way Lagerfeld handled the colours, the fluidity of the fabrics and delicacy of the workmanship which offered a moment’s escape from the cold hard realities of the world outside.

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